Land, sea and recovery

Conservation tourism

Turning visitors into conservation revenue without turning wildlife into a prop.

• Conservation Atlas

  Places and initiatives where tourism money reaches conservation, with photo essays and destination guides

• Global Sustainable Tourism Council

  Owns the sustainable tourism criteria and accredits the bodies that audit against them. It does not certify anyone itself

• EarthCheck

  Tourism sustainability benchmarking and certification

• Green Destinations

  Certification and reporting for whole destinations rather than single businesses

• Travelife

  Sustainability certification for tour operators and travel agencies

• Fair Trade Tourism

  Fair trade certification for African tourism businesses. Use this domain, not the old booking one

• Ecotourism Australia

  ECO Certification for ecotourism operators and guides

• Ecotourism Kenya

  Eco-rating certification for Kenyan lodges and camps

• TOFTigers

  Certification for wildlife lodges and operators in India and Nepal

• Whale Heritage Areas

  Accreditation for destinations that watch cetaceans responsibly

• Blue Flag

  Environmental award for beaches, marinas and tourism boats

• The Long Run

  Membership for conservation-led tourism businesses, built on the 4C standard

• The International Ecotourism Society

  The field's oldest body and a useful guidelines archive. Its newest content is from 2021, so not an active network

• Global Ecotourism Network

  Regional ecotourism practitioner networks

• Adventure Travel Trade Association

  Adventure travel industry trade association

• African Travel and Tourism Association

  Pan-African tourism trade association

• Future of Tourism Coalition

  Destination-first tourism principles, with a toolkit for applying them

• Wilderness Trust

  Safari-funded grants for African conservation projects

• Conservation Travel Foundation

  Namibian travel-funded conservation and community grants

• Tourism Cares

  Travel industry nonprofit funding community impact projects

• IUCN Tourism and Visitor Management in Protected Areas

  IUCN best-practice guidelines for tourism inside protected areas

• IUCN WCPA Tourism and Protected Areas Specialist Group

  The IUCN expert group on protected area tourism

• Tools and Resources for Nature-Based Tourism

  World Bank database of nature-based tourism toolkits, searchable

• World Animal Protection: travel and tourism

  Animal welfare guidance for travel companies and the venues they sell

• UN Tourism wildlife watching study

  What wildlife watching is actually worth in Africa

• Sustainable Travel International

  Tourism impact measurement and destination climate tools

• Destination Stewardship Center

  Destination stewardship reporting and practitioner case studies

• Travel Forward

  Destination tourism research and toolkits. Renamed from The Travel Foundation, so search both

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